Captive-ball apparatus.



M PATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

. J.P.DOYLE.

GAPTIVE BALL APPARATUS. APPLIUATION FILED OUT. 12,1906

W1 TNESS Attorney JOHN F. DOYLE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

CAPTIVE -B ALL APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed October 12, 1906. Serial No. 338,596.

To all whom it may, concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN F. DOYLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Captive-Ball Apparatus, of which the following isa specification.

This invention is a captive ball apparatus, designed particularly forpractice and instruction in base ball batting, and to provide anapparatus in which the various curves used in ball pitching will besimulated so that by the use of the apparatus the eye and hand of thebatsman will become skilled in meeting or hitting such curves in actualball play. In my Patent No. 831,605, dated September 25, 1906, there isdescribed an apparatus for the same purpose, in which the ball issuspended by a vertical cord and provided with an elastic return cord atthe lower end. is found to have the objection that if the batsman missesthe ball he may strike the suspension cord, with the result that theball will tend to fly around the bat and wrap the cord around the same,resulting sometimes in breaking'the 00rd,;

To overcome this defect the present invention provides a ball supportedby horizontal elastic cords, so that if the ball is missed the bat willgo either under or over the cords and not become tangled therewith.

The present invention also provides improved means for supporting theball and attaching the same to the ends of the elastic, and improvedmeans for insuring a proper return of the ball to the batsman in asubstantially direct manner,- even should the ball be fouled or struckhigh or low.

Other improved features will appear from the following description.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a front view of the apparatus as set up ready for use. Fig.2 is a detail in section through the ball. Figs. 3 and 4 are details inedge and top views of a pulley constituting an important feature of theapparatus.

loop being provided with an especial form of knot.

In Fig. 1, devices are shown whereby the apparatus can be set up in afield or elsewhere, said devices consisting of standards 6 which arepreferably made in two sections united by a sleeve coupling 7. Thesestandards are driven in the ground and stayed by guy ropesjS connectedto the top thereof. The purpose of having the standards jointed is toallow them to be separated and packed in small space. These standardssupport pulleys 9, to be hereinafter more particularly described. Theball, 10, may be an ordinary base ball which, as well known, is built upof several different materials, or it may be of leather, rubber, orother material, but inasmuch as the wear incident to the This apparatusFig. 5 is an enlarged view of one of the loops used for connecting theball to the elastics, the

i on the knots.

continuous hitting is great it should be as strongly and stoutlyconstructed as possible. It is preferably covered with a winding of tiretape, as indicated at 24, which will prevent the ball wearing out andwhich may be renewed as often as necessary. The ball has a diametricalhole bored .therethrough, and in this hole is placed a tube 11 of metal,preferably brass or copper. The tube is somewhat less in length than thediameter of the ball, and after being put in place the ends thereof areexpanded into the adjacent body of the ball, as indicated at 12. Thisholds the tube securely in place, and when a regulation ball is used thetube prevents collapse of the rubber core 13 found at the center of suchballs. The tube also prevents wear on the inside of the ball and isessential to the practical use of the device in view of the severepounding given a ball by players in practice.

The ball is directly supported by a piece of rawhide 14, insertedthrough the tube. Rawhide is preferable over an ordinary cord or othermaterial because of its wearing qualities. The ends of the piece ofrawhide are looped through loops 15 at the ends of elastic return cords16 which extend oppositely from the ball and through the pulleys 9, andthence are attached to the ground by stakes 17 or otherwise locatedseveral feet back of the line between the posts or standards. For indooruse the ends of the elastic cords may be fastened to hooks in the floor,and instead of the posts 6 the pulleys can be attached to the side wallsof the room. The cords are preferably doubled cords of small diameter,because I have found by experience that doubled cords of small diameterwill give a better return than a single large cord of the same strength,the reason apparently being that the woven covers found on such cordswill not yield or lengthen as much on a single large cord as it will onthe smaller cords. And I have found by experience that about twenty feetof each of the elastic cords is agood quantity, with the posts placedtwenty feet apart, which will give ten feet of cord 011 each sidebetween the ball and the pulleys and ten feet between the pulleys andthe ground. The pulleys may be placed at any desired height, and arescrewed in the posts or otherwise fixed so that they will not turn, arigid or non-swiveling pulley being essential to a proper return of theball as will be hereinafter explained.

The rawhide thong 14 is looped through the loops 15 at the ends of theelastic cords and secured by means of knots 18, and rubber blocks orwashers 19 are placed upon the rawhide against the knots on oppositesides of the ball and act as stops for the ball and prevent wear Thelength of the loops may be varied to change the distance between thewashers 19, and to allow more or less play of the ball along the rawhidestrip. Preferably, several inches play is given to allow or assist acertain amount of lateral movement or curve to the ball as it returns tothe batsman, as in on or in curves.

The knot and loop in the rawhide are of special construction, and willbe described.

An ordinary or simple knot cannot be used because it tends to pull downsmaller and will in time pull through the washers 19. Therefore a squareend or face of the knot, adjacent the washer 19, is desirable, and toproduce this a simple knot is first tied in the rawhide, and then thefree end of the piece is inserted through the bight nearest the outerend of the thong, as indicated at 20. This forms a loop, and the piece20 is gripped in the knot, the pressure increasing with the strain orpull incident to hitting the ball, so that a very simple fastening isprovided for the end of the loop, which would pull out of ordinaryfastening means. Furthermore, the bight of the knot nearest the washer19 backs up square and does not tend to pull small or narrow, andconsequently there is little or no tendency to pull the same through thewashers or to cause the washers to stick upon the knots. Obviously thelength of the loops can be readily varied by loosening the knots andshifting the same one way or the other along the thong.

The pulleys are also of special construction, incident to the practicaluselessness of ordinary pulleys for the purpose. It will be readilyappreciated that when the ball is struck below or above the center itwill be either driven off or fouled up or down, and if knocked in thedirection of a pop fly, say, the ordinary return will be practicallystraight down; and the return of a ball hit above the center and knockedto the ground a short distance in advance would ordinarily be upstraight or at an acute angle. These actions would constitute a defect,because balls so returned would be practically unhittable while inmotion. To avoid this defect or condition the piilley shown in Figs. 3and 4 is provided. This is characterized by the feature that it has alarge or wide opening or throat at 21, several times larger than thediameter of the cords, and the sides or ears of the pulley frame areextended as at 22 in a pronounced curve beyond the edges of the pulleywheel. The pulleys are placed and fixed in the posts or standards withtheir axes substantially vertical. Now, if a ball be hit below thecenter so as to drive it up in the direction of a pop fly the cords willbe strained over the extended edges 22 of the pulley frames, and whensaid cords contract the effect will be to throw the cords out and causethe ball to describe a curve out and down so that by the time it reachesthe batter again it will be traveling at a small angle from thehorizontal, instead of great angle as would be the case if a swivelingpulley were used, or one without the extended flanges. The large opening21 is essential to prevent the cords from catching in consequence of theirregular angles at which they are drawn through the pulley, the intentbeing to give a free and unobstructed run for the cords. 4

The ball is capable of rotation or spinning on the rawhide piece 14, and.inasmuch as the ball is rarely struck at the exact center a spin in onedirection or the other is almost invariably produced, and as the returnmovement takes place this spin often causes a pronounced drop, or raise,dependent upon the direction of rotation. The in or out curves areproduced by the different horizontal angles at which the ball returns,and the difierent tension on the elastic cords incident thereto, andalso by the slideof the ball on the rawhide, as heretofore referred to.

In the use of the apparatus, the batsman takes position a step or twobehind the line between the posts; or two men may take positions oneither side and strike alternately. The ball may be batted away abouttwenty or twenty-five feet or less, with twenty feet of elastic cord oneach side, and at this distance will be found to return so quickly thatit will be a matter of some difficulty to keep the ball going,particularly as it describes various curves and breaks in its return, inconsequence of the condition hereinbefore referred to. The speed of theball when batted hard approaches that of a skilled pitcher, and theparticular apparatus described, especially the construction of thepulleys, in

sures a return approximately within the bounds or limits with respect toangle within which balls delivered by a skilled pitcher will bereceived.

The device will be found very useful by professional base ball playersand others desirous of cultivating skill in batting; and it will alsoafford an exercising apparatus of general use in consequence of therapid movements incident to the use described.

I claim:

1. A captive ball apparatus comprising a ball, pulleys attached tosupports on opposite sides of the ball, and elastic cords extendingoppositely and substantially horizontally from the ball and through thepulleys and connected to the ground at their outer ends.

2. A captive ball apparatus comprising a ball, a pair of spaced posts,pulleys secured to the posts, ,and elastic cords extending oppositelyfrom the ball and through the pulleys and connected at their ends to theground at a dis tance behind a line between the posts.

3. A captive ball apparatus comprising a ball, a pair of spacedsupports, pulleys fixed to the supports at substantially the same heightand with their axes substantially vertical, and elastic cords suspendingthe ball between the supports and extending through the pulleys.

4. A captive ball apparatus, comprising a ball, a pair of spacedsupports, pulleys fixed to the supports with their axes substantiallyvertical, and elastic suspension cords connected to the ball andextending through the pulleys, the pulley frames having ears extendinglaterally beyond the edge of the wheels to give direction to the run ofthe cords.

5. A captive ball apparatus, comprising a ball, a pair of spacedsupports, pulleys fixed to the supports with their axes substantiallyperpendicular to the normal line of flight of the ball, and elasticsuspension cords connected to the ball and extending through thepulleys, the pulley frames having threats of excessive diameter comparedto the diameter of the cords and also having ears extending laterallybeyond the edge of the wheels.

6. In a captive ball apparatus, a ball having a diametrical hole, and ametal tube therein having ends expanded into the material of the ball. 7i

7. In a captive ball apparatus, the combination of a ball having a holetherethrough, a piece of tough flexible material extending through thehole and knotted on opposite sides of ball and looped beyond the knots,with its ends inserted and held in the knots, and elastic return cordsconnected to the loops and extending oppositely from the ball.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN F. DOYLE.

Witnesses:

M. R. KUNSMAN, Gno. E. Tnw.

